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Why Wintering Sheds

Alfons Zeestraten outside one of his Wintering sheds

Farmers with dairy wintering barns are reporting savings between 20% and 23% over outdoor wintering costs in Southland and West Otago. The higher percentage is from farms with winter milk supply contracts.
These savings are made up from:

• Savings on feed costs because the animals are warmer and there is almost zero feed wastage
  
• Savings on pasture damage and pugging because the cows are off the land in the wetter periods
  
• Being able to milk longer at shoulders of season and therefore increasing milking days
  
• Savings on fertiliser by being able to retain the effluent and apply it to the grass at a time when it can best uptake the nutrients
  
• Savings by having less cow walking distance and therefore better yields and less lame cows
  
• Savings to the environment by not having pugging and nutrients runoff into water ways during outdoor winter feeding
  
• Staff savings by reducing the man hours involved in winter feeding.
  
• Increased production due to higher body condition score.
• Ability to use the shed as a feed pad for supplements during milking time with no wastage.